Memory Consolidation

Question 1

Patient
H.M.

Answer 1

Suffered from epileptic seizures -> Underwent bilateral temporal lobectomy: amygdala, hippocampus, and parts of the temporal cortex removed
 Lead to Anterograde amnesia.
 Procedural memory stayed intact (skills, processes, etc.)

Question 2

Patient
R.G.

Answer 2

Suffered an ischemic stroke –> the entire CA1 region in the hippocampus was destroyed bilaterally

Anterograde amnesia, but very little retrograde
amnesia = hippocampus is necessary for converting short term memory into long-term memory; cortex and other brain regions were intact, so the memory that was already stored
there stayed intact

No other cognitive impairments

Question 3

Patient
K.C.

Answer 3

 had a head injury that resulted in bilateral lesions of the medial temporal
lobe
 Normal IQ and intelligence
 Intact semantic memory: retained expert knowledge of his work
 Impaired episodic memory: didn’t remember personal events from his own life
 Anterograde amnesia

Question 4

Patient
E.P.

Answer 4

 Episode of herpes simplex encephalitis resulted
in bilateral lesions of the medial temporal lobe
(including hippocampus)
 Lesions are similar to H.M.
 Suffered from severe anterograde amnesia
 Impaired declarative memory, but not non-
declarative memory
 New spatial memory impairment: couldn’t
describe how he would travel from his home to
visit family
 Early retrograde memory intact: Remembered
the spatial layout of where he grew up
9

Question 5

Amnesia

Answer 5

a condition that involves a loss of memory,
which can be temporary or permanent

Question 6

Dissociative Amnesia:

Answer 6

the person forget specific events
only, or time periods

Question 7

Anterograde

Answer 7

can’t form new memories (new events)
but can still remember things from before the amnesia developed = can’t convert short term memories into
long-term memories

Question 8

Retrograde

Answer 8

can’t recall memories from your past (old
events); can be partial or full

Question 9

Episodic Memory

Answer 9

contains representation of specific personal experiences
(autobiographical)

Question 10

Semantic Memory

Answer 10

learned knowledge about the world (etc. memorizing phone numbers, remember dates, etc.)

Question 11

Reconsolidation

Answer 11

reactivation of old memories